Micromegas prototypes with thermo-bond film separators

In this paper we report the results of Micromegas prototypes constructed by attaching micromesh to an anode using thermo-bond films. The excellent metal attaching ability and good dielectical property of this kind of film make it a promising material to be used as avalanche gap spacers. Several prototypes are successfully made. The electron transmission properties are first studied and then the gas gain is measured in argon-isobutane mixtures. The maximum gain of more than 10⁴ is easily obtained. The energy resolutions for ⁵⁵Fe 5.9 keV K_α ray can be better than 20% over one magnitude in gain for different operational gas mixtures and the best energy resolution of 13.7% (FWHM) can be achieved with the gas mixture of 94% argon concentration. The preliminary test results of the prototypes with sensitive area of 45 mm×45 mm without internal support show good uniformity across the sensitive area.     

Quantitative conditions for the formation of p-wave neutron halos

With the experimental binding energies and configurations, the root-mean-square radii of p-wave valence neutron distributions for nuclei up to the second p-shell have been calculated in the framework of the single-particle potential model. By analyzing the relations between the radii and the binding energies, the scaling laws of p-wave valence neutron distributions are obtained. The quantitative conditions for the formation of p-wave neutron halos are deduced from these scaling laws. Based on the investigation on the probability of finding the valence nucleon outside the range of the interaction potential, a 2p_3/2 halo state in ⁴⁷S is anticipated for the first time. These obtained results might provide reference for searching for p-wave neutron halos in nuclei up to the second p-shell.     

A new probe of neutron skin thickness

The correlation between neutron-to-proton yield ratio (R_np) and neutron skin thickness (δ_np) in neutron-rich projectile induced reactions is investigated within the framework of the Isospin-Dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics (IQMD) model. The density distribution of the Droplet model is embedded in the initialization of the neutron and proton densities in the present IQMD model. By adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutron density in the Droplet model for the projectile, the relationship between the neutron skin thickness and the corresponding R_np is obtained. The results show strong linear correlation between R_np and δ_np for neutron-rich Ca and Ni isotopes. It is suggested that R_np may be used as an experimental observable to extract δ_np for neutron-rich nuclei, which is very interesting in the study of the nuclear structure of exotic nuclei, the equation of state (EOS) of asymmetric nuclear matter and neutron-rich matter in astrophysics, etc.